1. Field of the Invention
This present invention relates to an improvement in a coin dispensing device which can be used in a vending machine, a checkout machine or a change machine and more particularly to a coin dispensing device which dispenses coins of different denominations from a plural of coin hoppers positioned in a compact configuration.
2. Description of Related Art
xe2x80x9cCoinxe2x80x9d which is used in this specification embodies metals, discs or tokens like a coin. In the known prior art, coins are piled up in parallel tubes of common denomination, and are selectively dispensed from the lower section of the tubes, such as in the Japanese Patent 3137163. Therefore a coin mechanism includes a coin receiving device, a coin distinguishing device, a coin diverter and a coin dispensing device, and the overall size is of a de facto standard for the industry.
In the prior art, the coins are generally inserted in the tubes, one by one, by hand. The present applicant has applied for an application which stores coins in bulk for each denomination and has a storing member (a coin hopper) which dispenses the coins one by one as shown in the Japanese publication of patent application 9-265561.
The coin hopper has a rotating disc which dispenses the coins and uses a motor for rotating the rotating disc. Therefore the coin hopper is limited by the size of the rotating disc. As a result, four standard coin hoppers cannot be mounted in the de facto standard size housing that manufacturers of machines that incorporate coin dispensing devices allocate.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a smaller coin dispensing device for a plurality of different denominations. By improving a layout arrangement of the coin hoppers and their coin passageway, the coin dispensing device can incorporate a plurality of coin hoppers. More specifically, a purpose of the present invention is to provide a coin dispensing device which is smaller and can be incorporated in the space provided for in existing vending machines.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a coin dispensing device with the ability to meet the de facto standard measurements accepted in the industry.
Still another purpose of the present invention is to reduce the cost of a coin dispensing device.
Another purpose of the present invention is to enable an easy and quick refilling to the coin dispensing device.
The coin dispensing device includes at least two coin hoppers which both have a rotating disc to dispense coins one by one, the coin hoppers being located and aligned in a lateral horizontal direction, a common dispensing passageway which is used by both of the hoppers to guide and dispensed the coins from these hoppers.
In this structure, each denomination can be stored in bulk in a separate coin hopper with a rotating disc and selected denominations are dispensed through the common dispensing passageway one by one.
Two rotating discs of the coin hoppers can be located in parallel and are aligned laterally in a compact space. The dispensed coins are dispensed from the coin hoppers and are guided to the dispensing exit by the common dispensing passageway. As a result, the coin dispensing device becomes smaller and can be attached into existing standard spaces. Also, the refilling of the coins isn""t tedious nor time consuming.
The coin dispensing device can further include at least three coin hoppers which have rotating discs which dispense coins one by one. The coin hoppers are positioned both adjacent to each other and in a vertical direction within a housing member, and a dispensing passageway which is common for all the hoppers can guide and dispense the coins from these hoppers.
In this structure, the coins are stored in bulk in the coin hoppers with rotating discs. Selected coins are dispensed from the selected hoppers one by one into the dispensing passageway which is common to each hopper and can form part of a closing member for the housing member.
Therefore the space of the coin hoppers becomes smaller, and the coin dispensing device can be made smaller.
The rotating discs can be slanted and the project areas of the rotating discs are made smaller, because the rotating discs are positioned at a slant.
Therefore the project area of the rotating discs are smaller. Also, the diameter of each rotating disc can be increased. Therefore the through-holes of the rotating disc can be increased, because the diameter of the rotating disc can be increased. As a result, the dispensing of the coins becomes smooth, because the through frequency of coins is increased.
The common dispensing passageway is adjacent to a pair of rotating discs of these coin hoppers which are aligned in the lateral direction and also the coin hopper aligned in the vertical direction.
In this structure, the coins are dispensed by the coin hoppers from the left and right side. Therefore the dispensing condition of the coin hoppers can be arranged in a common manner. The arranging operation becomes easy and the coin dispensing becomes smooth, because the left and right sides of the coin hoppers can be arranged in the same manner. Also, the overall layout becomes smaller, as a result, the coin dispensing device can be located in the de facto standard size for vending machines.
This present invention is desirable because further, it can use a single driving motor assembly which is common to these rotating discs for each coin-hopper, and a transmission assembly which can selectively couple the driving motor and the rotating discs. In this structure, the rotating discs of plural coin hoppers are driven by a transmission from the driving motor. Therefore the coin hoppers become smaller, as they don""t require separate driving motors and can further reduce the cost, because there is only one driving motor assembly.
In this structure, clutches can be selectively engaged, and only one rotating disc of a coin hopper is rotated at a time, and the coin hopper dispenses the coins to the dispensing passageway one by one. Therefore the coins don""t jam, because the coins can only be let off one by one through a common passageway. The dispensing passageway can become smaller, and accordingly the coin dispensing device can be made smaller. Also, the coins aren""t dispensed into the dispensing passageway from the left and right side of the hoppers at the same time. Therefore the coins don""t jam.
The rotating disc can have at least coin two holes. In this structure, the coins pass through either of the holes by the rotation of the rotating disc, and afterwards the coins are dispensed. Therefore the coin-dispensing-time is shorter, because the coins pass-through probability is in proportion to the number of holes. As a result, the coins are dispensed quickly.
The individual coin hoppers can be moved out of a supporting house frame on sliding mounting assemblies. Therefore the coins are refilled in the coin hoppers at positions which are out of the frame. As a result, the work of refilling is easy.
A transmission driver structure for each rotating disc is located in the housing frame, and when the coin-hoppers are located in the frame, a driven unit for each of these rotating discs has contact with this driver structure. In this structure, when the coin hopper are returned into the frame, the driven units have contact with the associating drivers, and the driven units can be driven by the driver structure. Therefore additional connecting work between driven units and drivers is unnecessary by a service technician.
The coin-hoppers have a first gear which has a rotating axis parallel to the rotating axis of the driver and a second gear which has a rotating axis which slants the same as the rotating disc, and the second gear is directly or indirectly driven by the first gear. In this structure, the first gear is the driver and the driven unit can be made by a spur gear. Therefore the spur gears can be easily contacted and can reduce the cost.